Run rig

Run rig, or runrig, also known as rig-a-rendal, was a system of land tenure practised in Scotland, particularly in the Highlands and Islands.

Its origins are not clear, but it is possible that the practice was adopted in the late medieval period, supplanting earlier enclosed fields which were associated with a more dispersed pattern of settlement.

The in-bye was divided into strips – "rigs" – which were periodically reassigned among the tenants of the township so that no individual had continuous use of the best land.

In some instances, where ploughing was carried out by horse gangs, the responsibility for this was shared among the tenants – so providing an obvious communal activity.

A further complication was that many parts of the West Highlands used the caschrom to work arable, especially in the Hebrides, so there was no need for a shared plough team.

This resulted from the horsedrawn plough being worked in a clockwise direction, with the mould board turning the furrow to the right, thereby creating these ridges ("rigs") in the fields over time.